In the beginning
by Iro-Ao
Summary: Well, i watched the anime and thought... well add a bit of a english twist and make a battle camp, add in a better fighter, and make her and kenshin friends. Yes, you may say Kenshin never had friends untill he met his wife, but now he does! I felt like
1. Fighting For a Place

-I don't own this anime- I wrote the story, but credit has to go to my friend **Dark Guardian24**, who typed it up- Thanks A LOT!-

**-ME**: Ok… I know there are problems with the setting… I was reading too many English/ British historical fictions and well war was done that way, not in secret. I also found it easier to write as. I also might have gotten the ages mixed up too… **SORRY**! And by the way, I'm not trying to bring down Kenshin, like him too much to do so. I just like this way of writing it. Oh… and to those who really like to stick to the plot of ' Kenshin kills all the people he meets, No friends until his wife', **DO NOT READ THIS**!-

* * *

A war bring many groups of samurai together was the cause of an unimaginable friendship.

Kazumi was the youngest, strongest, and most talented of all the warriors. In the beginning of the war many adults laughed at the sight of the 11 year old female who carried a sword. They'd always tease her. Kenshin, the second youngest at 14, would always be the one who made fun of her most. Kazumi figured it wasn't fair; that she shouldn't be the one being made fun of all the time. The laughter always upset her. So, she also figured a fight with Kenshin (the best samurai there other then her) would make them stop laughing.

'I'll challenge him', she stated to herself, as she sat facing the fire.

On one of those calm nights, when all the fighters were resting, eating or fighting, Kazumi marched right up to Kenshin.

"What do you want squirt?" Kenshin shot back to her very rude greeting. Battle camp (yes battle camp! I read too many historical fictions, and they're rubbing off on me…) was rubbing off her normally good manners.

She turned beat red. The surrounding men started to make fun of her again. That's probably what made her burst. In an outrage cry she commanded, "Challenge me!"

She didn't even realize that she had unsheathed her sword had had it resting straight out in front of her pointing dangerously at Kenshin.

"Huh?" Kenshin replied. The only sound in the now silent group. The men had stopped laughing, although they were still smiling and snickering.

"Challenge me," she repeated sheepishly. She had returned her sword to its sheath and was silently telling herself to calm down.

A man smirked and then spoke, "You… you want to challenge the legendary Battousai?" His query held a note of laughter. That single note bothered Kazumi so much that she punched the man in the stomach. The others gasped when they realized that she had not only knocked him unconscious, but also that he had flown five feet.

She was perfectly serious.

Kenshin was sizing her up now. If she could punch a fully-grown man and make him fly five feet, she was something to worry about. But smiling, Kenshin stared her straight in the eye. Almost laughing out loud when he realized she was surprised at his smile.

"Fine, we fight in one hour. Squirt, I hope you're ready." With that, Himura Kenshin got up and walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

The men surrounding the fallen member of their group had heard Kenshin's reply and immediately found it something that should liven up the otherwise boring evening. They all ran off leaving the misfortunate member unconscious and alone, yelling, "The Battousai is fighting the little Kazu, this should be fun to watch. She's gonna get her ass whipped."

* * *

"Midnight", Kazumi whispered silently. 'Time to fight.' Standing in the middle of a clearing, she could see a crowd gathering. All of them wanted to see Kenshin work his magic. But they didn't expect that she could be better. "Great. Now when I beat him, they're all gonna be so shocked."

The only part she did not like was the fact that the leader of their group and the higher members were also watching. 'Calm down, if you have any emotions, he can read you. This is just another mission. A self appointed mission.' She muttered silently.

"Talking to yourself?" Kenshin interrupted her thoughts with a joyous tone.

"You're late; I thought you weren't going to come." She let out a little laugh then continued, "Let's begin."

Both young samurai took opposite positions. Kazumi realized that Kenshin was trying to read her moves. Smiling, she reached up and undid her braid. Her hair blew gently in the evening wind and fell into her face, blocking her eyes.

He smiled. "You can't see so good now. You might want to take Samurai 101 again. Not being able to see is to your enemy's advantage," he said preaching gently.

"Come then if you think you can touch me," she challenged.

Kenshin practically disappeared. He had ran across the field and was now circling her. There was some cheering as the men laughed at the sight of her just standing there, not being able to do anything.

"Three," she placed her hand onto her hilt. "Two," Kazu pulled it out one inch. "No more games Kenshin; this ends now. One!" In a fraction of a second her sword was out and in a flash of blue sparks, Kazumi had stopped Kenshin dizzying spiral by only moving her arms.

Kenshin backed away taking a new stance. Jumping into the air he raised his sword for a strike. Milliseconds before he would have hit her, Kazumi silently swivelled one inch from where she had originally been standing. She immediately counter-attacked and Kenshin was knocked to the ground.

The crowd was silent.

Returning her sword to her sheath, she bent down to him and stated, "Sorry, but I won." She rose and turned her back.

"Yeah, you did, I guess I don't deserve to be called Battousai. You can have my title."

Kazumi had been walking away as he said this but now she stood frozen in her tracks. Kenshin was offering her his title. 'Should I take it? No. It's his and he should keep it.' She answered herself.

"Sorry Kenshin, I don't want your title. I just wanted to have people stop making fun of me. I hate it. I knew I was strong and you guys just always laughed and left me out." A single tear slid down her cheek. "It wasn't fair for you to do that to me. Not fair…" She stood with her head tilted to the ground. Silent.

* * *

The crowd was stunned. Kazumi had beat Kenshin. One of the leaders stepped forward. Kazumi turned to face him, but avoided his gaze. She was worried that he'd kick her out of the group. But instead he just smiled and instructed, "If you beat fifty men that we pick in les then ten minutes, you receive the title of Kakosai."

'Ka… kosai… Kakosai!? The best of the best…' she thought frantically to herself.

"Fine," she stated. "Fine with me." Her tone almost betrayed her pent up excitement.

"Get ready then, and please… don't hold back."

"Right."

* * *

Kenshin was walking over to where Kazumi sat watching the leaders pick fifty able-bodied men. All were men, good, strong _men_.

"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked. "You had the chance." He was kind of glaring at her.

She looked up searching his eyes. "Did you want to die?" she asked seriously.

"N-," Kenshin began answering.

"Then there's no problem!" she interrupted as she got up heading towards the group of selected men. Kenshin would not accept defeat. Using his speed, Kenshin whipped out in front of Kazumi, forcing her to stop.

"Kazumi," Kenshin retorted in exasperating tones. "What I meant was that you weren't using all of your power. Heck, I think you weren't using even 50 of all your strength!"

She was trying to walk away but Kenshin had grabbed her wrist, forcing her to face him. Her reply came slowly, almost as if she was trying to think out loud. "You weren't fighting with all your strength either. Only 80. I didn't think it was fair." She tried to pull her wrist from his grasp but it wouldn't come out. She glared at him and added, "If you wanted to say something, say it now before I leave."

"Kazu, these men are going to use all of their strength after what you just did. Be careful." Kenshin's voice was soft, and caring.

The reply was nothing like what Kazumi expected. She had expected some angry teasing. But this was almost like… kindness. She began to blush without even realizing it.

Kenshin leaned in and whispered into her ear, "You're blushing."

He quickly released her before she replied in an embarrassed tone, "Baka!"

She quickly backed away and ran to the assembled men.

"Friends?" Kenshin called back to her.

But she didn't hear or if she did, she definitely ignored him. And she did hear him.

* * *

Standing in the middle of the circle of the forty-nine men, Kazumi waited for them to pick the fiftieth. To pass the time, she was muttering to herself and reviewing all she did that day. 'Friends? What does he mean by friends? I should ask him. Maybe after,' she thought to herself. 'I'll ask him after. Or maybe, he wants to distract me. Or make me angry. Oh drat!! Kenshin, you're making me confused.'

"Change of plans," a leader interrupted her musing.

She turned angrily towards the leader. She hated being interrupted. Both in conversation and in thought. "Why?" she retorted angrily.

"We want you to battle these forty-nine men. If you win, you re-battle Battousai. The fight between you and these men must be under ten minutes but the fight between you and the Battousai can take longer. Please do your best… and try to stay alive."

"Fight again? But why?" she questioned.

The man faltered in his smile for a second, the sighing he continued, "The Battousai informed us that you barely used your strength. If this is true, we wish to see 100."

"That Kenshin," she grumbled to herself. "Fine, have it your way. Now may I begin?"

The latter, she stated in the sweetest voice, surprising the official. But after taking a moment to collect himself, he curtly nodded and left the circle.

Another leader had raised his arm and shouted, "Begin," while looking at his watch. Ten minutes began ticking.

Ten men started to charge towards her. All of them had already unsheathed their weapons. 'Oh well, their demise.' All were knocked down by Kazu's blade before they could even blink. Some surprised gasps came from the next group comprised of ten men when they saw their fallen comrades.

"You too," she exclaimed as she knocked the next fleet down.

Twenty men down, twenty-nine to go. The next group was twice the size of the previous. Her swift blade knocked down each man.

When the last nine did not come, Kazu chased them down, each falling by one hit.

A shocked silence fell. Many men went to tend to the fallen warriors. When the field was cleared, Kenshin moved up into the position to fight.

Before the fight began the same leader who had asked her to fight the men walked into the area between the young samurai. He had a very surprised look on his face. He was facing Kazumi and kept sneaking surprised glances at her. Those few glances kept sending excited shivers down her spine.

"What do you want?" she asked arrogantly. "You're interrupting my fight."

"Sorry," the leader said sheepishly. "I just thought you'd want to know how you did."

"I already know, I did it." She replied. "But if you need to tell SOMEONE… tell Kenshin."

The official tensed in slight anger. "Okay, out of forty-nine men, only two were injured slightly other then the fact that they were all unconscious due to a rap on the head. Those two injuries were only slight scratches. When woken each man stated that the move that rendered them unconscious was too fast to be seen."

The surprised look on some of the faces in the crowd was enough to make her _very_ happy.

As the leader moved to the edge of the fighting area, Kazumi caught sight of Kenshin's face. That face alone wiped away any happy feelings she'd had in that moment. His face was not surprised. The thing that bothered her was that she didn't know what it was. Was it arrogance? No. Was it happiness? No. What was it? She'd have to ask everything after the fight. Everything.

Shaking her head, she moved into ready stance. Nothing was going to bother her before this fight. When she looked up at Kenshin, he still had that strange expression on his face. It was driving her nuts!

"No, calm. Must stay calm," she whispered.

"Jeez, you must like talking to yourself a lot," Kenshin lightly teased.

"Be quiet Kenshin, I'm thinking," she snapped.

"Well then, stop thinking. Fight!"

"Kenshin!" Kazumi whined.

"Fight!" Kenshin said in a strange tone.

"Why do you keep giving me things to think about?" she whined.

"Sorry," Kenshin replied, all none too sorry, as he stepped into the ready stance. "Oh, and like I said before, use all your power… and do your best."

"Shut up Kenshin, your getting me side-tracked," Kazumi snapped at him.

The leader, realizing that their little conversation was over, commanded for the fight to begin.

* * *

Kazumi was watching Kenshin. Kenshin never let his eyes wander from Kazumi's. Neither was moving. The leader had yelled begin without realizing that their little battle had already started.

Kazumi used the beginning signal to mask her movements. Kenshin's attention had flickered from her to the leader so he didn't see her disappear from her position of the field when she used her better speed. To Kenshin and the other warriors, she had simply… vanished.

Kenshin drew his sword. It was only a little way to try to protect himself from Kazumi's lightning strike. But Kazumi just avoided his blade.

Knocking him the ground with a powerful punch, she came to a standstill over the fallen Kenshin, her sword resting on his throat.

She had won.

Again.


	2. Fireside Questions

I don't own this anime I wrote the story, but credit has to go to my friend **Dark Guardian24**, who typed it up **Thanks A LOT**!

After her fight with Kenshin, Kazumi had wondered off while the leaders questioned the men she had fought.

Fires were burning in the campfire pits. Men gathered around to voice their versions of the events. Each version was very much the same.

Kazumi kept to the shadows as she wandered. The shadows kept her ten-year-old form from even the brightest blaze. 'Good' she thought. 'If I'm not found I can think.'

She wandered about half an hour thinking about everything Kenshin ad said to her that day. Finally making up her mind to summon the courage to ask. Kazu now began wandering in search of Kenshin, wandering into every fireside to scan each crowd. Each time, she carefully stayed out of the warm orange glow.

Each fireside did not yield Kenshin and she had been to mostly every one. At one of the few left, she paused, without even noticing that she was on a well-used path. A man came down the path behind her and to her, he had obviously had a bit too much to drink.

Spotting Kazu, he smiled. "Hey, little lady, isn't it past your bed time?" The joke held no humour. He really meant it. The sake had definitely gone to his head if he didn't recognize Kazu.

"What's your name little lady," the man continued as he took a step forward. She could just barely make out his eyes squinting down the path.

It was then she realized that he was asking because he could barely see her, and not because he was drunk. "I'm Kakora Kazumi," she replied. "Who're you?"

"Loro. Tikoru Loro. Wait, did you say Kakora Kazumi?" the man took a little step closer. "It is you. Sorry for not recognizing you but it's a little dark. Come with me. We have a good fire and besides, everyone's dying to hear your part."

"Umm… but I," but before Kazumi could give him a really answer; Loro was pushing her lightly towards the orange glow. Musing to herself she thought, 'He's kind of strong. Better not to risk a fight. I'll just go with him and whisk away later.'

Entering the warm glow, Kazumi noticed that the quiet chatter had stopped. Everyone was looking at her. Some in awe, some in worry but thanks to Loro, Kazu was saved having to speak at the moment. "I found Kazumi-sama on the path and thought I'd r bring her here to tell her story. What do ya think boys?"

The initial shock had finished washing over the group of men. Now everyone was rushing everywhere trying to provide Kazu and Loro with the best seats, food and drinks. Kazumi, used to being ignored, found this attention quite unnerving.

It wasn't until one man asked her if she was too warm that she realized she had been blushing.

After a few minutes of small talk, each man asked requests for her story of the fights. She began the story of the first fight with Kenshin, and then moved on to the Kakosai challenge. Midway through the latter, the men began asking questions. Loro once again saved her. "Wait 'til she's done. You'll get her mind in a twist."

Kazumi felt a rush of gratitude towards the man but managed not to blush and continued her story.

Near the end of her second story another shadow sat behind one of the men. Kazumi only took that presence to be another man coming to hear so she continued to concentrate on not faltering on her story. She never thought he'd be someone she was dying to talk to.

Kenshin and her last fight was the shortest of the three stories but it seemed that everyone had questions. By going around the circle asking each man, Kazu was guaranteed not to have the same question twice.

"How fast were you?" one asked.

"What technique did you use?" another said.

"Did you only punch him?" another queried.

The only question no one wasn't ready for was the one offered by that sneaky shadow. Kenshin's voice drew forth a stunned silence as he asked. "I told you to use your full power. You did not. That was barely more then our first fight. Why didn't you listen?"

Kazu felt the colour drain from her face. Her mouth became very dry and soundlessly, she began spouting words. Every face was turned in shock. She didn't use her full power?

"Why?" Kenshin repeated.

(yeah, i guess it was way shorter than the first one... i just ran out of ideas.)

R&R


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